Thank you for your prayers and support over these past months. It has been a busy time for us, so we will give you a quick rundown of activities since January.

Cofan Church Leadership Course: We have had two sessions of this, one in January and one earlier this month in April. Attendance has been good and Ron has received a lot of good feedback from this. The April course focused on the roles of pastors and elders, the importance of Bible memorization and the Doctrine of God. The next session is scheduled for early August.

Homeschool Teen Fellowship/Youth Ministry: We have continued with our every other Friday meetings and on March 24th – 27th had our annual retreat! It was very well attended with thirty-two students. Our theme this year was “Mission 28:19” (taken from Matthew 28:19) and all the activities were for secret agents or solving mysteries. The planning team (Ron, Sarah and Lydia) had over two years to plan all the details for this retreat since it was the theme we were planning when we had to cancel two years ago. Teams were made to complete against each other in various physical and mental challenges. Some favorites included a “Clue” game and a “Where in the Bible Is” where the teams had to solve “crime scenes” that were clues to Bible characters. Sarah, our puzzle master, came up with all sorts of secret codes for the students to discover and solve and Esther was in her happy spot listening to all the students work hard on Bible memorization. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the adult leaders who volunteered their valuable time to help. Many great memories were made.

Family: We are proud to announce the birth of our first grandson – Silas Kent! He was born on his due date of March 3rd and Esther, who was visiting Julia and Paul to help, ended up catching Silas as the labor progressed so rapidly the midwife wasn’t able to make it to the house in time! Needless to say, Esther was very thankful for her nurses training and that everything went perfectly! Silas joined his sister Rosie, who is a very enthusiastic big sister. The family is doing very well and adjusting to a new family member and temporary lack of sleep.

The rest of the family are doing well. Lydia continues her work in Mexico teaching her students. Ethan, Leanne and Florie continue to live and work in Washington State. Isaac and Yvonne continue with their studies in Florida and Yvonne graduates with an accounting degree and minor in missions on May 13th. Their wedding is planned for June 4th in Blissfield, MI. Isaac has one more year of seminary, so they will continue to live in Pensacola until he finishes up. Aaron also continues to live and work in Washington state. Sarah continues her work with us here in Ecuador. All are doing very well.

Coming up: We are down to three more weeks here in Ecuador before we head up to the States for about a six week visit. We will be making our new “home base” up in eastern Washington state happen on this trip with moving stuff we have stored at Esther’s mom’s house since we went to the mission field in 1990! We are definitely planning some family time, with grandbabies and time with Esther’s mom and family in Oregon AND last but not least, Isaac and Yvonne’s wedding that will be happening in Michigan! Our time will involve some traveling around, so let us know if you would like us to share about the work here in Ecuador, or just meet us for a quick visit. You can leave us a message on here, Facebook messenger, or email and we will get you our contact information.

• Itinerary so far: Arrive May 12th in Pensacola to attend Yvonne’s graduation May 13th.
• Fly to Spokane, WA May 14th
• Start drive to Michigan May 27th
• Wedding in Blissfield, MI June 4th
• Start return trip to Washington state June 5th
• Arrive in Washington state around June 11th
• Drive to Albany, OR June 14th
• Return to Washington state around June 23rd
• Return to Ecuador June 29th